My first day

[G-bone]

Greetings.

Well my plans for the very first recon with my new MD made a few turns (shock).
So I scooted out of work a little early and set off for my option #1 which was closer.
Never being there in person before, I was pleasantly surprised to see desertion.

It's about 4:30pm right now as I set into the tight, overgrown canyon.
Deep, overgrown Chaparral, having to climb over felled branches from earlier flooding.
Every turn, every bush, I was shaking and waiting to see that Snattle Rake.
I am purchasing Snake guards before I ever do that again.
Maybe even thigh high chaps/snake guards.

Anyway, as am walking thru this Beautiful canyon with a White schist layer on top of a 100 ft thick Red layer running parallel with the canyon.
All these little side Gulch looks SO promising.
The Gulches are on the North/West side of this canyon only.

Time is short and I know I won't make it to the first larger Gulch I had my sights on.
So I went for the first nice one I came to. And it's a heck of a lot bigger than it looked on Google earth. Steep accent up a dried up water fall maybe 10 ft. and a nice cut through the red band of dirt. Looking up into the gulch I see three or four good Cascading 10 to 12 foot water falls. Lots of exposed granite bedrock. Just beautiful but really over grown. Set up everything and got started. Ground balanced, threshold at about about 11 or 12 (just a barely audible hum) with the gain just barley pushing it.
Scanned all sides as far as I could reach and in the beds themselves. Around bushes and rolling rocks over (here Mr. Snakey). Checking every where and triple checking anything that might be anything as far as a sound murmur etc .

Did I find anything?
you better believe it!!

But I learned SO much in this first excursion.

1- Time FLIES when you're doing this and in almost 2 hours, only covered maybe 100 yards and up only 2 of the 4 steps up this little canyon.

2- I should have brought my Bug shirt.

3- Get those darn Snake guards.

I came away with a couple questions too.

My main one is this...
I want to fill in my holes - I want to leave NO trace as much as possible.
So I get a signal on a steep hillside, after I dug a good sized hole and retrieved my target, how do I fill that hole in?
The dirt is dry and the slope so steep, no way the dirt will stay in place.
Big ol hole. No way your gonna miss it. someone was digging here.

What do you do?

So after an Hour and a half I came away with this:


So today I was listening to Led Zeppelin all the way home
Get it? Get the Led out?

This side gulch I went up was very secluded and totally off the beaten path.
So it amazes me how much lead was up this little canyon.
I had a few weird variances in signals on two places that were very faint.
And I was digging deep for these to the point that I stopped and moved on.
These were both on the slopes and in deep rock, so I feared I would make these big holes for not.

Sun was going down. I had to break it all up and still work my way out of this canyon.
Even more so now I was wishing I had those snake guards.

Gotta go.

Cheers

G

 

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[G-bone]

I also grabbed a bag of sample material to pan out at home.


One other thing I noticed I needed was a shoulder strap for my MD.
Quite a few times trying to negotiate some tricky climbs, I could have used both hands.

 

[Jim Hemmingway]

Sounds like you had a really good time exploring and detecting G-bone. It will only get better when you find some gold... you've done well, especially going alone the first time.

Jim.

 

[Hard Prospector]

Snake guards are good but when climbing through steep terrain I prefer the chaps(Cabelas). They provide great protection from thorny brush, cactus, poison oak and sharp rocks. Spray deet on em and the ticks hop right off.

 

[G-bone]

Sounds like you had a really good time exploring and detecting G-bone. It will only get better when you find some gold... you've done well, especially going alone the first time.

Jim.

Thanks Jim.
Yes it was fun just getting up into that Canyon.
Something about seeing a new place for the first time, not knowing whats around the corner.
it was bringing my childhood back, cuz that's all we did as kids up in the mountains behind our houses.
Packed a PB&J sandwich and my Red Rider BB gun and we were gone the whole day up in those hills.
Good times indeed. And I was finally doing it again 40 years later.


and thanks Hard Prospector, Good points.
Insect repellant next time FOR SURE.
I was getting eaten alive out there.

Cheers

G

 

[Featherdfishead]

Glad you got out and began your prospecting G-Bone. Its an arduous venture but rewards us like nothing else in life can.
Filling holes on very steep slopes is tough but seasons pretty well. Sluff the upper bank into the hole after scraping as much original dirt into the hole as possible. This will look rough at first but after a season passes it will appear as just a small more natural looking depression. Also if you dig the holes innards side hill instead of down hill it makes it easier to push most of the dirt back into the hole. Fill your holes as best as possible and dont swet it to much.
On Snakes - i'm a field biologist that covers miles of forest and stream a year and cross path with Mr or Mrs rattlesnake nearly daily in the summer months. Your eyes, mind, and ears lastly are your best bet, i personally wouldnt use snake boots, they may help if struck but i'd not want to depend on it and the false security may be a hindrance - also they must be hot as hell. Chaps may be your best option as Hardprospec said, but more for shrubs than snakes. If you learn the natural history of the snake species you encounter and their daily routines, heading to water or cooler locations as temps get very hot and/or returning to hot spots from the cool areas as the day cools. Area's most likely to den and hunt, ect. Rattlesnakes when cool in early mornings are very lethargic and rarely rattle when disturbed. They can only retreat very slowly and are easy to walk right up on. At this time they usually just try to slowly get away. Later in the day when there gettn hot and seeking a cool spot, shade or the riparian zone typically, they are feisty and much more active. At this time they'll sound off, much more like the hiss from a water hose or pipe spraying than a rattle. Remember that unless stepped on or very near to they only want to be left alone. They wont activly hunt you like some snakes in africa and aussieland. Also unless stepped on they must coil to strike any distance. They will swim rivers with no problem and when doing so usually take a very direct route across. I have encountered thousands of rattlers and have only had afew close calls while i've known others that have been bit when weeding their gardens on an early summer morn. Once you come to understand ol mr rattler you will encounter'm with no fear and will likely be rewarded with some great natural interactions. I've seen rattlers in early morning that layed perfectly still while a pocket gopher i spooked from his run perched on its back not sure what the hell to do. Also seen'm laying near a small stream strike an american robin a very entertaining wrestling match pursued with the snake the victor after a good 20 mins. These are not desert snakes though so im sure you'll notice some different patterns but all have a way of the day. As you can tell observing the natural worlds intricacies is my greatest joy in life. I never gave up hiken the mountains with my ol .22 Remi - just 35 yrs more experience and more gear. LOL
Get a good magnetic pick and good luck, always remember the gold will come and learn that machine well.
AjR